he was killed serving our country and
this is the way he's being treated and
taken care of the final resting place
for a fallen hero is anything but
peaceful rising water and mud
surrounding a veterans grave have made
it a mess Plus straight at Pawnee
frustrated isn't even the word for what
I can tell you tonight a mother in
mourning calling help me Hank hoping
this problem can be fixed once and for
all consumer investigator Hank
Winchester has a story from Rochester
Hills he joins us live now with more
Hank and Kimberly Jason the cemetery
here just right over my shoulder from
here everything looks fine from here
everything looks dry but as you make
your way into the cemetery you'll notice
a section that is heavily flooded it has
caused this military mother a lot of
anxiety but now she is finally getting
the help she needs she was in the Navy
when he got killed it was my
responsibility to take care of him again
Douglas Kate landing died in 2001 while
serving our country
he now rests here at Christian Memorial
Gardens West in Rochester Hills but his
gravesite isn't what you would expect
for a fallen hero it's water mud you
can't it's been three years since we've
been able to put flowers on his grave
his family unable to visit because his
grave in the area around it underwater
muddy and according to the family it's
been going on for a number of years when
they approached the cemetery about the
issue
they've given me excuses first they said
it was the houses across the street and
the last excuse they gave us a couple
months back was that it was water a pipe
had broke under the rope his mother Mary
said she went as far as going
door-to-door near the cemetery asking
homeowners if they've experienced water
issues themselves Mary asked us to visit
her son's grave with her she wanted us
to see what she's been dealing with
and it's it's unreal the cemetery left a
shot back and some hoses on the grave
for about a month but it didn't seem to
do much but I just I need some help and
I don't know where to go or where to
turn so that's when the family called us
I reached out to the cemetery and the
city of Rochester Hills the mayor taking
action making calls and working to learn
more about what was happening here at
the same time a cemetery spokesperson
sharing this statement with me Christian
Memorial Gardens west mission is to help
families memorialize every life with
dignity including providing and
maintaining a tranquil and beautiful
place for memorialization in this
instance we have fallen short of our
standards we have engaged outside
Engineers and are working closely with
the city to solve the issue and want to
reassure our families in the local
community that we are committed to
serving them and their loved ones a
short time later city crews on the scene
working to determine the source of the
flooding work was also done right before
Memorial Day to drain the water but more
importantly the real work is now being
done to finally identify the source of
the problem and make sure this final
resting place is truly peaceful a place
where Mary can honor her son his service
and his memory it's just disrespectful
and I like I said I just don't know what
else to do anymore you certainly feel
for that mother I want to share with you
a statement we received a short time ago
from the city of Rochester Hills it
reads in part the city has determined
that this drainage issue resides on
private property and as a private
property matter nonetheless we have been
responsive and committed to assisting
and working with all parties to find a
solution and boy have they ever just
today the City meeting with leaders with
the cemetery the engineering department
finding the source of that problem
letting that homeowner know they have a
certain amount of time to deal with that
pipe that is the issue after that action
will be taking to make sure that this
problem is fixed we're good we're live
here tonight in Rochester Hills tank
Winchester help me
Hank help me understand it looked like
from the video it's just that one grave
are there other graves in that part of
the cemetery that are also dealing with
weather-related problems too
and Kimberly there are we were trying to
be respectful of those other grave sites
as we were given permission by that
family member but there are a number of
grades that have that similar issue
we've received some emails since people
started knowing that we were doing this
story telling us today we're affected
the good news is there is now hope that
this problem will be fixed for good back
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